5 NFL Teams That Should Consider Terrell Owens

Terrell Owens held a workout yesterday (Oct. 25th) to show that his surgically repaired left knee is pain free and completely healed from a torn ACL. Terrell looked great, running routes with his shirt off (surprise!) showing he was in tip-top physical condition from the waist up and catching all balls thrown to him (on camera anyways).

The problem was no one representing the NFL showed up to watch. What does that say about Owens future in the league? What could this do to the psyche of someone that loves the spotlight? While I don’t think Terrell should retire, I do believe he should sit out this season and rest his knee instead of being a hired gun for the stretch run. He is more known for his reality show these days than football (the show is a guilty pleasure of mine) so he should prepare for next season and collect those residual paychecks from “The T.O. Show“. But why should Terrell or any NFL owner listen to me? There are teams this season that can definitely use Owens on their roster right now. Here are my top 5:

1) Indianapolis Colts

The Colts need a rewind button on their dismal season. Bottom line, they played like a college team last Sunday (Oct.23rd). After the defense gave up 62 points to the New Orleans Saints there’s nothing T.O. could have done to help. Easily on their way to falling below 10 wins in a season for the first time in years, it couldn’t hurt to give Terrell a shot.

2) Oakland Raiders

They just signed one of Owens’ former quarterbacks in Carson Palmer and the Raiders are on the right side of .500 at 4-2. Seriously, I challenge you to name one of the Raiders’ wide receivers without googling their current roster. I couldn’t either. The Raiders can thank running back Darren McFadden and the recently injured quarterback Jason Campbell for their fast start. McFadden was sidelined this past Sunday and you saw the result: zero points. A Palmer-Owens connection can bring the offensive punch, give them a big name at wide receiver for the first time since Tim Brown and Jerry Rice were running routes together, and allow them to, in the famous words of their deceased owner Al Davis, “just win, baby!”

3) Minnesota Vikings

I’m not trying to be funny, really (yet I can’t help but chuckle at the irony). If Minnesota were to take a chance on T.O. he would be reunited with the recently demoted Donovan McNabb. The Vikings have had success bringing in a former star trying to reclaim glory with Brett Favre so why can’t they do it again? 2 out of 4 ain’t bad (McNabb and Randy Moss in their returns were busts). Christian Ponder showed signs of greatness keeping the Vikes competitive against the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers no less and Owens, who plays his best in big games, would give him another big target. However, I doubt coach Leslie Frazier would put McNabb (speaking of someone who should retire) through any further embarrassment.

4) New York Jets

They were rumored to be looking at T.O. before the season began, then they signed Plaxico Burress.… same thing. They also have Santonio Holmes. Why not bring T.O. in and make it a troublesome threesome? Rex Ryan is the coach and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he shook things up.

5) Philadelphia Eagles

Donovan McNabb is not the quarterback anymore and Michael Vick will not get tired in the Super Bowl. The supposed “Dream Team” needs to wake up from a nightmare start and T.O.’s fire could be what gets them over the hump on both sides of the ball. Desean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin could learn a lot from the crafty veteran. The question is would coach Andy Reid go down that road again?

Sure there are other bad teams that need T.O.’s services (Miami and St. Louis comes to mind), but Owens’ future Hall of Fame career has been built playing with elite teams (49ers, Cowboys, Eagles) and quarterbacks. If he managed to leave all of those teams on a bad note (and they were winning), do you think he would suit up for the Dolphins just to get a pay check? Even though his “workout” wasn’t set-up by the NFL, his reputation as a divisive presence may be another reason why no NFL scouts showed up. Owens may have a lot left in the tank, but once you start signing a string of one year contracts with different teams in any sport the end may be near whether he likes it or not.